Quakertown National Bank, Quakertown, PA (Charter 2366)

Original banking house of the Quakertown Savings Bank on Broad and Main Streets. Courtesy of Google Maps ca2020

Quakertown National Bank, Quakertown, PA (Chartered 1877 - Open past 1935)

Town History

Postcard of the Quakertown National Bank. Courtesy of Lyn Knight Auctions, www.lynknight.com

Quakertown National Bank on Broad and Third ca2020. Courtesy of Google Maps

Old Quakertown National Bank and Quakertown Trust Company on Broad and Third ca2020. Courtesy of Google Maps

Quakertown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. As of 2020, it had a population of 9,359. The borough is 15 miles south of Allentown and Bethlehem and 47 miles north of Philadelphia, making Quakertown a border town of both the Delaware Valley and Lehigh Valley metropolitan areas. Quakertown is surrounded by Richland Township.

Quakertown was originally settled by members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. The settlement was not officially known as Quakertown until its first post office opened in 1803.

On September 18, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, a convoy of wagons carrying the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown, under the command of Col. Thomas Polk of Charlotte, North Carolina, stopped in Quakertown. The Liberty Bell was stored overnight behind the home of Evan Foulke on West Broad Street, and the entourage stayed at the Red Lion Inn.

Quakertown had two National Banks chartered during the Bank Note Era, and both of those banks issued National Bank Notes.

Bank History

Organized June 25, 1877
Chartered July 21, 1877
Bank was Open past 1935
For Bank History after 1935 see FDIC Bank History website
Bank still in business as QNB, Quakertown, PA (November 2021)

The Quakertown National Bank succeeded the Quakertown Savings bank, a State institution, and commenced business on June 26, 1877 with capital stock of $100,000. Dr. Joseph Thomas was president; Charles C. Haring, Jr., cashier; and Benjamin Grant, teller.

Dr. Thomas was a Civil War Surgeon with the 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves and 82nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded at Charles City Crossroads, Henrico County, Virginia, on June 30, 1862, having “a memorandum book” stuck in his chest pocket saved his life by blocking the full force of a minie-ball. He served two terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate, 1879-1882.

The directors of the Quakertown National Bank planned to build a large banking house on the lot lately purchased on the corner of Third and Broad Streets. The house standing on the property to be removed to the rear of the lot to allow the banking house to front on Broad Street. It was expected to be three stories of brick with a front of Hummelstown granite with the upper story to be used as a Masonic Lodge room. A building committee selected Architect M.B. Bean of Lansdale to draw up plans and specifications for the building. After looking at a number of banking houses in the State, the committee were favorably impressed with the building at Nazareth. A 30x80 feet building three stories high was planned. By December 1903, the bank began moving into its new banking house.

Quakertown will have a new trust company. Promoters of the new financial institution were officers and directors of the Quakertown National Bank, who with a number of their friends were laying the foundation for the new bank. Books for subscription of stock were opened on January 12, 1904, and over $80,000 had been subscribed. The authorized capital would be $250,000, with $125,000, or 50 per cent, paid in. Only about $40,000 of stock remained to be sold. The par value of the shares was $50. It was expected that J.S. Harley would become the president. The business location of the new company was planned for the old Quakertown National Bank building where with a few additions and improvements to the room, furniture, vault, etc., an economical start could be made.  On February 2, 1904, stockholders of the Quakertown Trust Company elected the following directors: J.S. Harley, Dr. Jos. Thomas, Aaron B. Walp, Charles C. Haring, Henry S. Funk, Aaron F. Stover, Dr. John J. Ott, Allen H. Levy, H.H. Erdman, A.R. Trumbower, Allen H. Weil, Reuben J. Freed, N.O. Crouthamel, Edwin C. Leidy, Harry E. Grim, Reuben F. Stover, Ferdinand Sellers, Chas. N. Cressman, O.H. Erdman, C.S. Guliek, Harvey F. Kern, Jacob H. Trauger, John A. Ozias, Benjamin Achey, and Matthew Miller. On Monday, March 7, 1904, the Quakertown Trust Company began business with J.S. Harley as president and Emil Haring, cashier.

On January 17, 1905, stockholders re-elected all directors. The following constituted the board: Joseph Thomas, president; A.B. Walp, vice president; J.S. Harley, I.H. Shelly, Samuel Thatcher, Reuben Delp, William D. Freed, and Charles H. Stoneback. The bank had recently added $10,000 to its surplus which stood at $280,000. A semi-annual dividend of 5% was declared and the stockholders banqueted at the Bush House.

On Tuesday, February 6, 1912, the regular discount day, the directors elected Mr. Benjamin Huttle of near Coopersburg as director to succeed Isaac Shelly, deceased. The board of directors including Mr. Huttle were Aaron B. Walp, C.C. Haring, Seth Fisher, Jonas S. Harley of Quakertown, Henry S. Funk of Springtown, Charles H. Stoneback of Trumbauersville, and Wm. D. Freed of Richlandtown.

The stockholders of the Quakertown National Bank held their annual meeting on Tuesday, January 20, 1925, followed by a fine dinner at the Globe Hotel. The following were elected directors: Charles C. Haring, Charles H. Stoneback, Henry S. Funk, Seth Fisher, Benjamin Hottel, Harvey M. Freed, Tilghman J. Walp, Franklin S. Yost. The following officers were elected: President Charles C. Haring; Vice President Seth Fisher, Cashier Hercules H. Reinhart, Teller Burton Knerr, Clerks Miss Ada Schmoyer and Charles G. Reinhart, Bookkeepers William Hart and Mrs. Mabel Kittelman, Solicitor Gordon H. Luckenbill. Mrs. Byron Thomas voted the proxies.

On Tuesday, January 10, 1933, the annual meeting of the stockholders was held. Henry S. Funk of Springtown, a director for many years resigned and Burton A. Knerr was elected to fill the vacancy. Funk had also been a directors of the Quakertown Trust Company. The directors elected were Charles C. Haring, LeRoy A. Hillegass, H.H. Reinhart, Dr. Calvin W. Moyer, and Burton A Knerr, of Quakertown; Harvey M. Freed, Richlandtown; Benjamin Hottel, Coopersburg, R.F.D.; and Franklin S. Yost, Pleasant Valley. The officers elected were Charles C. Haring, president; LeRoy A Hillegass, vice president; and H.H. Reinhart, cashier. On Friday afternoon, December 7, 1933, Charles C. Haring, Bucks County's oldest active banker, passed away. As a young man he entered the old Quakertown Savings bank in 1872 serving as a clerk. In 1877, when the Quakertown National Bank was organized, he was made its first cashier, a position he held until 1907 when he was named president. He was president at the time of his death with over sixty years in banking and had gained a position of esteem in the financial circles throughout the State.

Official Bank Title(s)

1: The Quakertown National Bank, Quakertown, PA

Bank Note Types Issued

Series of 1875 $10 bank note with pen signatures of Chas. C. Haring, Jr., Cashier and Joseph Thomas, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1902 Plain Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of H.H. Reinhart Cashier and Seth Fisher, Vice President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

1929 Type 2 $10 bank note with printed signatures of H.H. Reinhart, Cashier and Chas. C. Haring, Jr., President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

A total of $2,789,680 in National Bank Notes was issued by this bank between 1877 and 1935. This consisted of a total of 257,904 notes (212,540 large size and 45,364 small size notes).

This bank issued the following Types and Denominations of bank notes:

Series/Type	Sheet/Denoms	Serial#s	Sheet Comments
Series 1875	4x5	1 - 3050
Series 1875	3x10-20	1 - 8507
1882 Brown Back	3x10-20	1 - 9500
1882 Date Back	3x10-20	1 - 8000
1882 Value Back	3x10-20	8001 - 9157
1902 Plain Back	4x10	1 - 22921
1929 Type 1	6x10	1 - 5290
1929 Type 2	10	1 - 13624

Bank Presidents and Cashiers

Bank Presidents and Cashiers during the National Bank Note Era (1877 - 1936):

Presidents:

Cashiers:

Other Bank Note Signers

Aaron Bartholomew Walp, Vice President 1905, Signature
Seth Fisher, Vice President 1922...1931, Signature
There are currently no known Assistant Cashier bank note signers for this bank.

Wiki Links

Sources

Quakertown, PA, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakertown,_Pennsylvania
Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
Banks & Bankers Historical Database (1782-1935), https://bbdata.banknotehistory.com
Reading Times, Reading, PA, Wed., May 23, 1877.
The Central News, Perkasie, PA, Thu., Jan. 15, 1891.
The Bucks County Gazette, Bristol, PA, Thu., Aug. 21, 1902.
The Central News, Perkasie, PA, Thu., Sep. 11, 1902.
The Allentown Leader, Allentown, PA, Fri., Dec. 11, 1903.
The Allentown Leader, Allentown, PA, Sat., Jan. 16, 1904.
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Fri., Mar. 11, 1904.
The Central News, Perkasie, PA, Thu., Jan. 19, 1905.
The Central News, Perkasie, PA, Wed., Jan. 21, 1925.
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Sat., Jan. 14, 1933.
The Morning Call, Allentown, PA, Sat., Dec. 2, 1933.